This is an idea I had a few years ago for a new version of the famous Hasbro board game. Essentially, you are the head of a religious (christian) denomination and your aim is to outcompete other denominations.
The rules are essentially the same. The properties are either the graves of saints or locations where miracles occurred. When you purchase a property you may choose to build churches or a cathedral. When you land on someone elses property, you are required to tithe.
'Chance' is replaced by 'Act of God'. Examples include: - A member of your congregation finds the face of Jesus on a taco, the faithful flock to see it... +$500 - You are inexplicably struck by lightning and need to spend three days at a private hospital -$200
note: Following tradition, values on the godopoly gameboard are the same today as they were in 1935.
'Community chest' is replaced by 'Collection plate'. e.g. - A wealthy donor croaks and leaves you his jewelled pet bowl collection... +$100
Instead of going bankrupt, players are excommunicated.
Best of all, if you sin...
go to hell, go directly to hell. Do not pass God, do not collect $200.-- madradish, Oct 09 2002 Based on... http://www.monopoly.com [madradish, Oct 09 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004] Jesus http://www.catholic..._sport_statues.htmlInspirational Sport StatuesThat kid tackling Jesus is gonna get a harsh penalty [thumbwax, Oct 10 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004] (?) The Vati-can http://www.jldr.com...aces99.html#vaticanNuns on the Run [thumbwax, Oct 10 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004] The only hit on "Godopoly" on the web.. http://216.239.51.1...poly&hl=en&ie=UTF-8At least until Google's crawler finds this one. [Mr Burns, Oct 10 2002] Landover baptist http://www.landoverbaptist.org/Satire (for DrCurry) [madradish, Oct 10 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004] also at landover baptist. http://www.landover...nds/donotpassgo.wavthis is a wav file... "do not pass go, do not collect 200 daaahlers", it says [lewisgirl, Oct 11 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004] And just in case your timing is off. http://www.landover...ews0802/toilet.htmlMore help from the Baptists [blissmiss, Oct 11 2002] Custom Monopoly Sets http://www.mymonopoly.com/UK and Germany only, Too much Flash. Website doesn't actually work at the moment, Probably not enough customisation to implement this completely. Otherwise, it's a winner. [st3f, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004] get out of hell free card http://www.goohf.com/an excellent product from an excellent website. [ato_de, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004] <rolls a six><click ... click ... click ... click ... click ... click>"Oh no - the Spanish Inquisition! - pay $100 bribe"<rolls a two><click ... click>"Agh! 'You need to buy a Papal indulgence - pay $50'""-- hippo, Oct 09 2002 Like regular Monopoly, will it take about 40 days and 40 nights to finally complete a game?-- Wes, Oct 09 2002 The currency could be followers, rather than cash. So that as you 'stop' at sites owned by other players some of your congregation are 'wooed' over. If you have sinned and you got to hell, directly to hell do not gain 200 followers.
The flaw with this is when buying property... "I buying a cathedral""Ok, that'll be 450 followers"-- Jinbish, Oct 09 2002 I like the followers idea. I had considered changing the form of currency but couldn't come up with much.
I am a little disturbed by your choice of stonehenge in that example.-- madradish, Oct 09 2002 Yep, you got it. Many of the current churches/cathedrals were built over the graves of saints etc. For example, Durham Cathedral (in the north of England) was built over the grave of Saint Cuthbert.
I guess this does assume that all current religious edifices on these sites no longer exist, but as you noticed that's not exactly inconsistent with the original.-- madradish, Oct 09 2002 Will there be an Amish version, where you can't build churches and cathedrals? Die cast pieces: horse, cart, pitchfork, beard.
Catholic pieces: Mini Mary, confessional booth, Papal Mitre, Henrik Larsson.-- calum, Oct 09 2002 [madradish]:annotations fixed. Be disturbed no more.-- Jinbish, Oct 09 2002 Amishopoly, interesting suggestion. Maybe you could just rename the game once all of the buildings have been eaten by pets or toddlers.-- madradish, Oct 09 2002 Jesus tacos alone gets you a croissant, oi! Will there be a Kosher version anytime soon?-- blissmiss, Oct 09 2002 [jb] - yes, but check the grammar! Actually I liked it with stonehenge!
[bliss] - It's not made with pork in the first place.-- madradish, Oct 09 2002 The grammar is fine. In the style of Manuel, I left it like that to forever remind me of my ineptitude. Que?-- Jinbish, Oct 09 2002 Re: buying property. Since you (don't) want to be the banker in this game, replace the banker title with the Most Worshipful Master and assume no income for your property. You start with no worshipers and take on your monopoly by controlling property and sending your worshipers gained into your account payable -- they become Masons.-- reensure, Oct 09 2002 Are there any "Act of God" cards for catching the "God Complex"? If so, would that be a positive or a negative influence on your play?-- hollajam, Oct 09 2002 //"I buying a cathedral" "Ok, that'll be 450 followers"//Now, maybe I just don't understand the entire concept of owning property, or maybe this is a known paradox of ownership, but it seems to me that when you buy something, you don't have the money any more. I realise that this means you have an asset, and it can gain value or lose value, just as the cash might, but under some different influences. However, it strikes me that in this cathedral example, to purchase a building using your followers as currency is, as Jinbish is perhaps suggesting, rather shortsighted. You will lose the followers, and you are unlikely to be able to give back the (empty) cathedral building for return of your original followers. Instead, is there a facility to mortgage your followers in lieu of purchasing the cathedral? - i.e. you give the Head of the Church some followers as your deposit, and arrange a mortgage which will behove you to pay him up to 40% of your F.A.P. per annum (more like a footballer's transfer value than a salary -> Follower Attraction Potential). Thus, as you go round the board attracting your followers, you are constantly paying your mortgage to the Head of the Church, with interest. Never forget that you must encourage your followers to keep going forth and multiplying, (some denominations may do this more efficiently than others), so that you can be earning more follower-interest, which will probably increase your FAP, thus leaving you more disposable income (resist the temptation to say 'disposable followers' as this will decrease your attractiveness to investor-followers) with which to pay the Head of the Church.-- lewisgirl, Oct 09 2002 so maybe a church is like a house, and a cathedral is like a hotel? it sounds like fun, though a bit sacrilegious.-- -wess, Oct 09 2002 I second bliss: why limit it to flaky Christian denominations - there are plenty of flaky Jewish, Moslem, Buddhist and other religious sects out there. Two guys in Newark were just arrested for digging up human remains for their animist cult, described by local officials as a money-making scheme. Fishbone for flagrant Christian bashing.
Btw, Sim Religion has been done, and much more humorously.-- DrCurry, Oct 09 2002 [Dr Curry]: You are seconding blissmiss?
Quote: "Jesus tacos alone gets you a croissant..."-- Jinbish, Oct 09 2002 I don't agree with lewisgirl regarding the use of followers. When a priest, vicar, imam or whatever moves on to a larger diocese with a nice big mosque or cathedral, they are effectively trading in old followers for new so this could be seen as analogous to the trading-money-for-a-hotel aspect of monopoly. //Fishbone for flagrant Christian bashing// Well OK, DrCurry, I'll give it a try but I'm sure that there are more effective things I could use on them.-- DrBob, Oct 09 2002 This is flagrant?-- bristolz, Oct 09 2002 >double three< Yes! I'll buy Lourdes. >double three< Brilliant! I've become the Patriarch of the Ukraine >double three< Damn it. Three sixes in a row, join the pre-Reformation Catholic Church, do not pass God, do not collect heavenly mana.-- [ sctld ], Oct 09 2002 Though I do see [DrCurry]'s point about singling out the Christian faith, I can maybe call this as a bit sacreligious but I don't feel terribly bashed. Call it "Churchopoly", "Religiopoly" or maybe "Theopoly" and it just becomes one more drop in a sea of cultural satire. Besides, "Religiopoly" has a certain ring to it.-- half, Oct 09 2002 The way i see it, if it opens people up to Christinity, and makes them think about religion, even jsut a little bit, it can't be all that bad.-- [ sctld ], Oct 09 2002 Agreed, [ sctld ].
//Catholic pieces: Mini Mary...// If you're going for multi-denominational, make sure you throw in an offering plate or a "pot luck" casserole for Baptists.-- half, Oct 09 2002 And a 'Ned Flanders' piece, for the over devout.-- [ sctld ], Oct 09 2002 oh... and a David Koresh playing piece, too, please.
Act of God: "Your Branch Davidian Compound destroyed by tanks. Must pay 200 followers to rebuild".-- Wes, Oct 09 2002 I vote to change the name to Religiopoly. It's funner to say.-- XSarenkaX, Oct 09 2002 "Get out of jail free" cards could be replaced by pardons, and the "Just visiting" bit on the jail square changed to "Just confessing".-- -alx, Oct 09 2002 What do the Scientologists play? I dunno, but I bet all the game pieces look like John Travolta..-- Mr Burns, Oct 09 2002 So the Waterworks is connected to the font. God bless you my child. I have not quite worked out where the Electricity Company comes into this game. God flashing? heaven forbid.-- The Kat, Oct 09 2002 Lightning.-- [ sctld ], Oct 09 2002 DrBob, //...effectively trading in old followers for new --- analogous to the trading money... // Oh. Noble healer, you. That's a goo-ood slice to the bone! <licks fingers>
I think being 'struck by lightening' could be the elusive trump card. It gives you one round of play with the "God Complex" aura. You have 40% increased purchasing power at the same time you get a chance to perform an act of God on another player. You may choose to annihilate someone's property, within reasonable game playing limits of course, or you may elevate a lowly player's status, causing a shift amongst the stronger players positional advantage.
Of course there is ALWAYS the anti-matter lightening strike card and the opposite embellishments are granted for one round-- hollajam, Oct 09 2002 This is MONOPOLY, not Dungeons and Dragons.-- [ sctld ], Oct 09 2002 No offense [sctld] How would I know? I've never played "S&M."-- hollajam, Oct 09 2002 Tell us about your BDSM role, [hollajam]...
<edit - featuring UnaBubba as madradish>-- madradish, Oct 09 2002 "Hmmm."
hollajam lightly tosses a recently discarded 3D puzzle toy in her palm while contemplating the set-up.
Honestly madradish, perhaps I'm not warmed up yet, but to your comment I have to claim, "I have no idea..."-- hollajam, Oct 09 2002 Oh!!! I know what your referring to now <engine revs nicely>
The Booty Dance?! <smiles at the fun it was>
That wasn't me. That was my "Alter Ego" silly!
(I just hope she didn't embarrass thumbwax :-)-- hollajam, Oct 09 2002 Would there be room for non-believers or morally dangerous property? I guess the go to hell thing would be enough of a pitfall, but would you actually be able to get out of there on time served?-- UfosOverChina, Oct 10 2002 From the ones I'd seen on TV, I thought if you sinned, you *gained* followers.-- lurch, Oct 10 2002 Start out buying strip-mall cheap churches, and then work your way up to a chapel or a funeral home or something. Maybe acquire relics, starting with an apostle's fossilized toe jam and working your way up to the Ark of the Covenant or the Shroud of Turin?
So you have to battle out other denom's? I'm a bit mystified. Does each denom use a different playing technique? As a side note, I think it would be fun if you could stick a little candle on the board, right where it says "Hell." There should be a battery-powered red LED set for El Diablo's glowing red eyes.
This very same game could me made for any religion, with a few adjustments, of course. Who wouldn't play Muslimopoly? Or Monopolytheism? Or Hebropoly? Or even Hindopoly? Will I still have to be the freaking shoe?-- polartomato, Oct 10 2002 Six sick sheiks started a dozen demonic denominations.-- rabbit, Oct 10 2002 // I have not quite worked out where the Electricity Company comes into this game. //
Pentecost.
{ Damn. And I was doing so good at staying out of this one... }-- waugsqueke, Oct 10 2002 Psst - 10236 Charing Cross Road, where Westwood, Beverly Hills and Bel Air slam into one another - Playboy Mansion-- thumbwax, Oct 10 2002 blimey. Good job Mephista isn't around.-- lewisgirl, Oct 10 2002 So the play money comes in different denominations?-- FarmerJohn, Oct 10 2002 You wouldn't need a different game for each religion, polartomato. You could have each player taking the part of a religion and having a different set of playing pieces. So, instead of houses and hotels, the Christian player would have, for example, churches and cathedrals, whilst the Buddhist player would have, say temples and giant statues of Buddha. Also, for those who don't like the 'followers as currency' idea, you could instead use karma or piety as the medium of exchange. Oh, and finally, rather than having Hell in place of Prison, I think that Limbo (the place NOT the dance) would be a better option. In fact, I might even go ahead and try and create this game. I'm rather looking forward to building the Alhambra on Lourdes.-- DrBob, Oct 10 2002 All the curches/cathedrals have to look the same, even if they're not representing the same faiths: the limited number of hotels and especially houses is an important part of the game.-- yamahito, Oct 10 2002 So the agnostics don't know if they want to play, and the atheists head for the golf course?-- FarmerJohn, Oct 10 2002 We're just hanging on until we can snaffle a "Get Out Of Hell Free" card .....
We'll be a Druid.-- 8th of 7, Oct 10 2002 "Hale-Bop comet arives, loose 38 followers"-- -wess, Oct 10 2002 Jim and Tammy Faye show up. Stocks plummet.-- Mr Burns, Oct 10 2002 DrBob: I see your point and I like your idea but I think it would be clumsy if every religion had its own set of temples and synagogues and whatnot. Practicality be damned, no pun intended. Although it is interesting that practically every religion erects holy sites on top of the graves of dead officials, with the exception of a few religions that like to disconnect from their physically dead brethren. Maybe have some kind of universal symbol pieces that can just represent the next level of holy site?
Personally, I think limbo/purgatory should be the Monoholy version of the Free Parking space. Any takers?-- polartomato, Oct 10 2002 What about the Masons, and the Rosicrucians, and the Banco Ambrosiano ? The Jesuits ? Will there be conspiracies ? Heretics ? Witch - burnings ?-- 8th of 7, Oct 10 2002 yama, the piece limit is easily dealt with. You just insert a rule saying that there can be no more than X number of holy buildings in play at any one time. No problem. 8th (and others) desire to include the various sects can be incorporated, if you use them as stopping places on the board (perhaps in place of the Railway Stations and Utilities) or as the Sects (Community Chest) deck. The Chance deck would be re-titled 'Gods'. And I still can't pronounce Religiopoly properly..-- DrBob, Oct 10 2002 Since it appears that I may have coined that "word", I guess I get to say what the correct pronunciation is: 6 syllables. The second i has the long e sound. You can figure out the rest. Re-lig-i-op-o-ly.
To quote one of my favorite college professors, "Ya like the way yer mouth moves when ya say that?"-- half, Oct 10 2002 [one version of the game for Holy Rollers]
The currency could be simplified with a point system. Temples and tithes being of similar value through out the sea of beliefs.
I think God has to be the source of the utilities, however in the other game I always felt the devil was back there somewhere.
I guess it's only reasonable that the object of the game would be to become "The One True Church" and the heretics would be kicked "Out of the Game".
There should be a crown and robe waiting for the winner, without a painfully sanctimonious ceremony.-- UfosOverChina, Oct 10 2002 Wow! What a response.
[lewisgirl] - I think DrBob is right, you 'allocate' followers to a church etc so you don't have them 'in hand' anymore. Kinder than a sacrifice!
[half, XsX] - I still like Godopoly, It's been that way in my head for years.
[ufos] - interesting question, it would be rather nasty for an unbeliever to come in buying property and starting up a competing church.
[polarjam] - The different denominations was mainly a way to explain the competition. They are fighting it out to be the one true church a ufos said. I like the red light idea btw.
It would be interesting to try and make a buddhist version of this game as free from competition as possible while retaining original rules. Call it ascent to nirvana or something, currency is karma etc.
As for you dear CurryBot, this is intended to be satire (see subheading). It is cynical, but so am I (and so are you). I was using christianity as an example, not singling it out. Flagrant christian bashing this is not.-- madradish, Oct 10 2002 Do we get to have wars? I know they don't do this in Monopoly, but, you can't have religion without wars. <quickly disappears into burrow>-- rabbit, Oct 10 2002 Haha <claps hands>.
Kudos to thcgenius for finding the other reference! That page actually belongs to my ex-boyfriend Evan. God Inc was an idea that he had, but the Godopoly he mentions was my idea. So they both belong (obliquely) to me!-- madradish, Oct 10 2002 Couldn't help noticing he's about 8,999,990,000 God names short, madame radish.-- waugsqueke, Oct 10 2002 [rabbit] - No, sorry.
[waugs] - that kind of minor detail has never stopped him in the past. Besides, implementation isn't exactly his strong point.
[lewis, bliss] - hehe! That website has given me hours of enjoyment over the years!-- madradish, Oct 12 2002 [waugs] - If I remember the reference correctly, I would just as soon he not iterate through the remaining names...-- lurch, Oct 12 2002 Just playing devils advocate here but what about Hellopoly. Boardwalk = Las Vegas, Park place = salem, Water company = river Styx. Once you own both Sodom and Ghamora you get to build sacrificial alters, and towers of Babel. Why, the posibilities are as endless as the abyss.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Oct 12 2002 Yes, this is good. But war is hell and vice versa. Please can we have war? Please please please?-- rabbit, Oct 12 2002 Brings to mind endless possibilites:
Religiscrabble Presbyclue Dogmanary etc.-- blissmiss, Oct 12 2002 Candy Promised Land.-- blissmiss, Oct 12 2002 2Fries: Why would Jerusalem be in Hellopoly?-- [ sctld ], Oct 13 2002 What happens if I roll three 6's in a row?-- RayfordSteele, Nov 07 2002 The game is nearing the end at that point.-- half, Nov 07 2002 I would imagine all hell would break loose after a triple 6 roll.-- XSarenkaX, Nov 07 2002 Kind of a low-tech version of black & white. you get to be god, and have to build up worshippers and complete godly tasks. eventually you get to fight with other gods. to get to chuck fireballs and lightning at opposing gods worshippers to get them to your side. or you can be nice to do the same, but its more fun to burn villages.-- notme, Nov 07 2002 If money is the root of all evil, why does the church have so much of it?-- Del, Dec 29 2002 The pieces could be the symbols of each player's faith -a crucifix for Christians, a Star of David for Jewish players, a little statue of Buddha for (go on, guess) Buddhists, and so on. Agnostics would have a lump of plasticine, pliable into the shape representing whatever they eventually choose.-- friendlyfire, Dec 30 2002 Thanks bliss, that's really...strange!-- madradish, Dec 30 2002 /Dr.Bob/- I thought U might like to know (pertaining to your quote above, which you've no doubt forgotten by now), that a few days ago a mosque was opened opposite the Alhambra- the first in Granada since the Moors left in 1492.-- git, Jul 15 2003 If you roll six three times in a row, you will go to hell. Also, instead of the "get out of jail free" card there is the absolution card.this is a really fun idea! +-- igirl, Jul 16 2003 You could (maybe) simplify it a little, without having Believer Dollars, or whatever. You have start up money, like the original game. If you land on a square that is not yet claimed by a religion, you can spend money and buy a church. A small church is "worth" 30 believers who go there to worship. After some arbitrary number of turns, the church is fully stocked, and you have that number of believers in your church. In the case of most religions, believers pay a tithe, so you receive some sum of money for each established church.
With your money, you can buy more small churches in your land, or combine them and upgrade to a cathedral. Similar to the original, lots are grouped together, but you don't need to have all of the lots in a group to upgrade to the temple. Instead, once the first cathedral is up, a cathedral cannot be built on the other lots in the group (saturation of the market). Competing religions would be stuck with lower-yielding small churches, and may have to eventually sell off their land.
To win, one religion must essentially force all other religions off the board. Ideally, different religions would have different strengths and weaknesses. For instance, Christianity might have higher income from tithing, but a card marked "Luther just nailed a card on a church door - take all Christian cathedrals off the board and replace them with two small churches" would not affect the Muslim player, who instead fears the Crusade card (haven't figured out what that would say).-- sycorob24, Nov 21 2003 //Get out of hell free card// Heh heh, just visiting...-- DesertFox, Nov 29 2005 God's error in my favor! Advance directly to Heaven!-- phundug, Nov 29 2005 Too much like the game of life for me.-- travbm, Oct 29 2015 random, halfbakery